A FINE KASHAN SILHOUETTE-WARE POTTERY VASE, PERSIA, LATE 12TH CENTURY

Of baluster form with tapering neck, moulded and decorated in turquoise and black, the shoulder with a band of hares and foxes running on a ground of undulating tendrils terminating in split-palmettes, the neck with a band of palmette motifs on a ground. Of lattice design, the body with a series of panels radiating from the foot. 31.3 cm. height This lot is accompanied by a Thermoluminescence Test (CIRAM 0116-OA-14R, dated 26/1/2016). PROVENANCE Private collection, United Kingdom CATALOGUE NOTE Silhouette-wares mark the transition between the production of clay-bodied ceramics and the development of the underglaze painting technique in Persia. Stylistically the decoration of the group relates to the lustrewares produced at Kashan during the monumental period in the last three decades of the 12th century. The decoration to the present lot is comparable to that on a vase in the Al-Sabah Collection at the Kuwait National Museum (Oliver Watson, Ceramics From Islamic Lands, London, 2004, p. 334, Cat.N.1). Both vases take inspiration from Garrus earthenwares, where the slip is removed entirely from the background of the image in order to leave the principal motifs in relief on a lighter background. The depiction of the quadrupeds is reminiscent of that on Fatimid pottery, the quality of the drawing being far finer than that on Garrus wares or any other vessels produced in the incised technique in Persia.